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Many Asian countries have better infrastructure than US: Report
Many Asian countries have better infrastructure than US: Report - Indian Express
As the United States infrastructure shows signs of wear and tear and the administration is unable to fix the infrastructure problems because of financial constraints, other countries seem to be overtaking the US with better and more modern infrastructure.
A report compiled by the Switzerland-based World Economic Forum (WEF) for the year 2011/12 suggests that many Asian countries have better infrastructure than the US.
The US's ranking has declined dramatically in the WEF's list of infrastructure systems.
While the US ranked 6th best in the world's infrastructure list for the year 2007-2008, it has declined to 16th ranking in the WEF's 2011-12 report expected to be released this month.
Indeed, South Korea's infrastructure is considered to be better than that of the US. Hong Kong leads in the world's infrastructure list.
Many Americans, in private and public comments, vent out their anger and frustration over the dilapidated conditions of the roads on which they have to drive; such conditions, they fume, can wreck their cars.
Over and above, many roads and even highways are considered to be unsafe for driving.
Some of the huge bridges that span across the country, connecting one state with another, show signs of breakdown as rust and other harmful elements collect, causing metal decay and other deterioration in the materials for construction of bridges.
Such infrastructure conditions can also hurt the economy.
The problem, as many see it, lies in the purse strings that are controlled by Congress which is unwilling to give a free hand to President Barack Obama who had at the start of his term pledged to stimulate the economy and create jobs by spending on modernization and upgrading of the infrastructure.
Obama has expressed concern that America is slipping down rapidly in international comparison of infrastructure facilities.
The subway systems in many American cities are in such bad shape that they cannot even be compared to some of the public commuting systems in a number of metropolitan cities of Southeast Asia such as Singapore, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur or Taipei.
"New York's subway system, for example, is also one of the most expensive in the world. Judging in value-for-money terms, a single trip on New York City's subway, costing USD 2.50 (RM7.46), is extremely high.
"Besides, the subway is not always the best public transportation mode, when you consider there are frequent breakdowns and delays coupled with the poor conditions of the outdated tracks and train cars, the total apathy of the transport workers towards the public, and the vandalism which subway cars are subjected to," says John Lee, an American-Chinese who has to take the subway commute from Flushing to downtown Manhattan for work.
John Liu, a New York city comptroller, who is well-known amongst New York's Malaysian community, has also criticized the escalating costs which are, in the end, borne by commuters.
The toll stations at bridges for collection of tolls from incoming traffic compare poorly to those in several Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia.
"I have travelled from one state to another in Malaysia and find the toll stations are professionally well managed while crossing into or out of Kuala Lumpur," says John McGee, a New Jersey businessman who has visited Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.
If the hundreds of comments by angry commuters in many New York newspapers and tabloids are any indication, New York's mass transportation system is always looking for ways and means to hike fares without, however, providing the services that would make a commute in the subway safe and comfortable.
But the problem of inadequate or antiquated infrastructure is not just confined to roads, bridges and subway systems. There is tremendous pressures on the nation's cargo-transporting rail network and the ports that often attract criticism.
Transport of raw materials and commodities is a problem for those who ship this category of cargo.
According to US based steel experts, for example, American mining companies end up paying nearly fourfold of the cargo transportation rates paid by Australian mining companies to transport coal to shipment ports.
With such high costs, American corporate executives often complain and question how anyone could compete against Asian suppliers, particularly the Chinese.
"The high costs of transportation also blunt our competitive edge when it comes to supplying materials in the attractive markets of Asia, particularly China," says Mark Brenden, a New York-based analyst.
Other analysts suggest that the dilapidated and antiquated infrastructure could knock off 0.2 percentage points from the US economic growth which, many fear, can even
help the relapse into another recession.
Indeed, widespread concern over a double-dip recession permeates through the US corporate sector.
America's allocations for infrastructure development amount to some 2 percent of the annual GDP.
This is a 50 percent decline of what the nation spent on infrastructure five decades ago. In contrast, Europe allocates some 5 percent while China gives 9 percent of its GDP.
The American century is over !
